


Never Judge A Book By Its Cover

by WhiteHotBlueFlame



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Books, F/F, Hollstein - Freeform, One Shot, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 12:04:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7102480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteHotBlueFlame/pseuds/WhiteHotBlueFlame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has a story. Some are tragic and mysterious, some are cute and funny, some are hard to describe, but everyone has a story. Everyone was born curled protectively around a book clutched tightly in their grasp. Some books were hefty, large, thick books the size of a dictionary and others were small and simple. Each book told the story of the owner’s soulmate(s), their soulmate’s life up until the point before their meeting. Laura has been waiting impatiently to figure out whose story is in her soulmate book.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Judge A Book By Its Cover

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings Friends, readers, and everyone in between!  
> It's been a while. How've you been? I've been dealing with writer's block. It's zero fun. So to get back into the swing of things (because when I break writer's block, I don't like to work on a preexisting story until I feel like I've gotten my voice back) I figured I'd write a one shot. This is an idea that popped into my head. I hope you like it.
> 
> As usual, I proof this stuff myself, so if you see a mistake, help a sister out or pretend it's not there (both acceptable courses of action). And as always, thanks so very much for reading, commenting and for any kudos you feel like bestowing upon me, feel free to let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy!

“Everyone has a story. Some are tragic and mysterious, some are cute and funny, some are hard to describe, but everyone has a story.” Laura read the words inscribed on the book her father held out to her; her face breaking open into a full and massive grin. She had seen a few of her friend’s soulmate books, but had yet to be given her own. 

Everyone was born curled protectively around a book clutched tightly in their grasp. Some books were hefty, large, thick books the size of a dictionary and others were small and simple. Each book told the story of the owner’s soulmate(s), their soulmate’s life up until the point before their meeting. Laura’s eyes took in the size of the book, widening in disbelief at the heft of the book. Laura’s father held it with two hands, his arms shaking slightly under the weight. Laura frowned as the realization dawned on her: _I guess I don’t meet her for a very long time. How else could this book be so huge?_

Laura’s father cleared his throat, gesturing softly for her to take what was rightfully hers. She looked up startled, the smile returning to her face. “Your mother, when she was still with us,” his eyes glossed over for a moment before he cleared his throat again and continued, “and I decided it would be best to give you this when you were old enough to understand and be ready for it. Happy eighteenth birthday, honey.” His smile was soft as Laura’s eyes fell from his to the book now cradled in her arms. 

“Thanks Dad.” She shifted the weight in her arms, her eyes travelling over the cover again. “Did you read any of it?” Her words were tentative as she asked the question, knowing how overprotective her father could be. 

He chuckled lightly. “No. Haven’t you ever noticed that no one, but the owner, can open the soulmate book?” Laura’s eyes widened again as she thought back to every time one of her friends or even her father, had shown her their soulmate books, always opening it and laying it in front of her; it had been the same every time. She had seen many shapes and sizes, but not once had she been handed a closed soulmate book to open on her own. “Well, sweetheart, I’ll leave you to it, I figure you don’t want to look at it with your old man around. Happy birthday.” He smiled as he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, before turning on his heel and leaving her room. 

Laura sighed as she sat back, sliding comfortably into her bed. _Where do I even start? Well, that’s a stupid question. The beginning, of course._ Laura rolled her eyes at herself as she flipped the book’s cover open with a soft skating sound of paper against paper. Where her friends’ soulmate books all had ranged from no name for her ace friends to around four names for her few friends who identified as poly; the first page of Laura’s book seemed filled with names. Her eyes scanned them over and over again, taking in each moniker and noticing when they started repeating. _They’re all anagrams._ Her mind reeled with the thought as she groaned. _What does that even mean?_

She closed her eyes and shook her head as she flipped the page again. Laura’s eyes started at the top of the page, landing on the first word. _Österreich? What?_ Her eyes scanned down the page. _Great. This isn’t in English. What am I supposed to do with that?_ She let out a defeated sigh as she slammed the book closed. _Stupid soulmate book. How am I supposed to even learn anything about her if it’s written in a language I don’t know?_ _UGH._

The weeks passed slowly; Laura’s schoolwork piled up as she began slowly, painfully trying to translate the book from what she had begun to realize was a rather old dialect of German. After a few months of work she had barely managed to (poorly) translate a few pages, her schoolwork suffering all the while. Her father finally put his foot down, forcing her to focus on her studies and prepare for college. When she chose the school in Styria she decided to attend, he complained and argued, accusing her of choosing the school for the wrong reasons, his overprotective feature taking center stage of his personality. “Laura, honey, no girl is worth jeopardizing your future. Go where you want, do what you want, and when the time comes whether you’ve read the book or not, you’ll meet her.” Laura’s rebuff of his comments was sharp and simple, earning her a soft sigh and a nod. 

Laura moved into the dorms, making fast friends with her floor don, Perry, and her soulmate, LaFontaine. Laura approached LaFontaine with her book in hand. “Whoa, Frosh. I’ve never seen one that thick.” LaFontaine’s words tugged at her. She beseeched them to help her with the translation. LaFontaine shook their head glumly. “No can do, Frosh. Sorry, L. I’d suggest Perry, she’s a German major, but she’s also wound pretty tight by class stress already and it’s pretty early in the semester. So, I don’t know what to tell you.” Laura sighed dejectedly with a nod. “Don’t sweat it, Frosh. Perry and I couldn’t even read when we got our soulmate books, and we were only just learning to read when we met. You don’t have to read the book, it’ll happen when it happens, L.” 

Laura groaned and nodded. “But, with how thick this book is, I might be like a hundred before I meet her. I just want to get the timing, you know, so I know when to start expecting her. I was going to ask Danny for help, but that route started getting weird.” Laura paused as LaFontaine, their face blank, raised an eyebrow encouraging her to continue. “She said we met just like her soulmate book said we would and then she started asking me if Laura was a nickname for something else.” LaFontaine frowned for a moment, opening their mouth to ask a question, however, Laura beat them to the punch. “But if the soulmate books are written in our soulmates native tongue, she can’t be my soulmate. Besides her name isn’t even among the many anagrams on the first page of my book.” LaFontaine nodded as Laura sighed again. 

“Well, that may be the best way to deal with that particular issue, kill two birds with one stone, as they say. Show Danny your book, it’ll convince her that she’s not your soulmate and then you can get her help translating it.” Laura’s face lit like a well decorated Christmas tree. 

“LaF, you’re a genius! You’re the best, no, really you are.” Laura’s words rushed out as she gathered up the large book. 

 LaFontaine nodded, a sly grin sliding over their face. “Just keep that in mind when I’m looking for subjects for my science experiments, L.” They hollered at Laura’s retreating form. 

Laura jogged to the English building, book in hand, hoping to catch Danny after one of her classes. Her breath heaved in her chest as she moved from door to door, peeking through the slatted window. She let out an excited breath as she caught sight of the tall redhead in an empty classroom. Danny turned her attention to Laura as soon as the door opened. “Hey Laura!” Danny’s face broke into a wide smile and her blue eyes softening. 

Laura gave a half smile in response, as Danny’s eyes landed on the book in her arms. “Hey Danny.” Laura’s voice was guarded, coming out an octave below her usual tone. Laura could see the recognition dawn over Danny’s face as her eyes took in the book in Laura’s arms. 

“Is that your soulmate book?” Laura felt a chill slither up her spine at the defeated tone to Danny’s voice. She opened her mouth to respond but couldn’t find the words, settling on simply nodding as an answer. “Why’d you bring it here?” 

Laura felt the weight heavy in her arms as she sighed softly and cleared her throat. “I was hoping you would help me with something.” Laura’s voice came out more tentative than she had meant it to. 

“Oh? What’s that?” 

“I was hoping you’d help me translate it? I just. It’s just that. Well, I’m. I’ve been trying to read it for about a year, but I don’t know German and I know you do. And I was hoping that you’d be willing to help me because you’re amazing. I mean like the kind of amazing person who helps others and stuff.” Danny smiled, her eyes lit with amusement as Laura rambled. 

“Ok then, let’s take a look at it?” Danny gestured to the large wooden desk at the head of the classroom, next to which she stood. Laura smiled and nodded quickly, moving toward Danny at the head of the classroom, the weight of the book in her arms feeling lighter as she went. 

“As far as I can tell, her name is Mircalla, or Millarca, or Arcmilla, or Carmilla, or…” Laura’s voice tinged in confusion as she set the book down, opening it to the name page, on the desk in front of Danny. 

Danny’s eyes traversed the book as she muttered, “So I’m guessing your name isn’t some weird derivation of Elizabeth or Betty.” She paused a moment as Laura’s words sunk in, her voice turning confused and inquisitive. “Wait, you don’t know her name?” 

Laura shook her head glumly. “The name page is a mix of repeating names, which are all anagrams of each other. Like no one’s ever heard of an anagram.” Laura groaned softly as Danny flipped abruptly to somewhere in the middle of the book and started reading silently to herself. 

After reading a few pages while Laura fidgeted awkwardly beside her, Danny stopped, looking up at Laura in askance. “Laura, are you sure someone isn’t playing some sort of trick on you?” Danny asked; the question only bringing muddled confusion to coat Laura’s face. “I mean,” Danny tried to explain the question, “this reads like a vampire novella from the nineteenth century.” 

Laura frowned, leaning forward to pull the book away from Danny. “Look Danny, if you didn’t want to help me translate it, you could have just said something. You don’t have to be a jerk about it.” 

Danny’s face dropped. “I was just trying to protect you, Laura. Whoever this book is about is dangerous. This book is about a monster, if this is even a real soulmate book.” 

Laura harrumphed. “I don’t need to be protected, Danny. I have a father for that already. This is a real soulmate book and it’s mine. Whoever it’s about is my soulmate and she’s definitely no monster.” Laura turned, pulling the book from Danny’s attention, prepared to storm away as Danny placed a hand on her shoulder. “Danny, I have to go; my roommate, Betty,” Danny’s eyes widened comically, “is probably waiting for me. I’ll see you around.” Laura’s voice was broken as she finished; she shook off the hand from her shoulder and walked away from the redhead with the book clutched tightly to her chest. 

Lara dropped the book on her bed as she walked in, her eyes scanning the empty room. _I wonder where Betty is._ Laura scanned the room again. On Betty’s bed, Laura noted the absence of sheets first before her eyes landed on the note at the center of the bed. Laura walked over picking the note up gingerly. 

* * *

**Hey Laur,**

**I’m joining the summer society. The President said I could move in today, so I took my things. I still have to go interview with the VP, your friend the TA, Danny? but the prez said it was a sure thing. So we’ll see. Have fun. Hey, now you have that single you wanted.**

**See you around,**

**B**

* * *

 

“What? What the?” Laura looked at the note in her hand, disbelief coloring her features. She spun on her heel; her eyes examined the room around her, taking in every empty shelf and bare space of wall, Betty had left behind. “Well crap.” Laura sunk down onto the bare bed the note still grasped in her hand. 

Two days later, Laura was still trying to get used to one side of the room being empty as she settled into the desk chair to work on her Journalism project about a rash of disappearances on campus. “It’s like a boogeyman pops up every few years. And no one knows what’s happening or why and then it stops again and seems to slip from the collective consciousness until it starts up again years later.” Laura spoke into the laptop camera. “I’m not going to let it slip from anyone’s mind this time! We can’t forget, we need to solve this and find out what is going on and why it’s happening.” Laura’s voice rose with righteous indignation. “And if the current board won’t help, I’ll just have to lead this crusade on my own.” Laura paused the recording to look down at her notes just as her statement was punctuated with the sound of her door slamming open. 

Laura whipped around, her eyes landing on the girl who stood in her doorway. “Who the hell are you?” Laura’s voice came out incensed as her eyes travelled up the girl’s form. The girl was standing in the doorway, onyx hair curled around a face of carved marble, her skin lit in the pristine color of porcelain. Laura’s eyes traveled up from the girl’s thick black biker boots, over the girl’s legs sheathed in smooth, supple, black leather, and up to the girl’s toned stomach, before taking in the black shirt, tied and tight. Finally, Laura’s eyes landed on pure coffee toned eyes that were challenging with a hint of a playful quality to them. Laura's mind went completely blank. 

The voice that responded to Laura’s question was like velvet folding in on itself, it was husky, sultry, smoky, and silky like a sip of the smoothest chocolate whiskey. “Carmilla. I’m your new roommate, sweetheart.” Laura’s eyes widened as the name hit her ears. She could feel Carmilla’s eyes lighting a fire on her as they roamed over her skin. Laura turned quickly, her attention falling to the book sitting next to her on the desk. 

Without thinking, the book was in Laura’s hands and she was moving towards Carmilla. She turned the book around to face Carmilla, opening it to the name page with a smile playing at her lips. “Carmilla?” Her voice was soft and tentative. “Not Millarca? Or Mircalla? Or Arcmilla?” Carmilla’s eyes journeyed over Laura’s face, taking in the sun kissed skin and light pink lips before moving of their own accord to the honey flecked amber toned eyes she could feel boring through her skin. Then, her eyes dropped to the book Laura held, thick and heavy in her arms, every iteration of Carmilla’s name scattered across the page. Laura watched as a smirk climbed over Carmilla’s features before she bent down, opening the bag at her feet and retrieved a thin book with an identical cover to the one in Laura’s hands. 

Laura’s eyes widened at the small book in Carmilla’s hands as Carmilla turned it and opened it to the name page. There written in simple text was a name: Laura. Laura let out a soft breath she didn’t noticed she was holding as Carmilla moved forward into her space. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited to find someone who had my book, cutie.” Laura could feel her face break into a wide grin just before Carmilla leaned forward and wiped it from her face, claiming Laura’s lips with her own.


End file.
